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116 thoughts on “Identify the Critical Few Behaviors that Energize Your Company”

Love this: “Culture is the self-sustaining patterns of behaving, feeling, thinking, and believing that determine how things get done in an organization.” How we get things done is as important as getting things done.

“Culture is the self-sustaining patterns of behaving, feeling, thinking, and believing that determine how things get done in an organization.” Great definition! I always struggle explaining what “culture” is but this definition just about sums it up.

Hi great post as always – would love a free book, sounds great. I would add – stories – stories are key to any culture….change the stories, change the culture …..leaders need to be meaning makers and story tellers….also myth busters!

Read the 1st chapter excerpt. Fantastic points that will help drive some emotion-based discussions with a team of leaders who tend not to want to think about the importance of emotions in the success of the company. This book will make that a lot easier.

These authors seem to have captured essential ingredients of leadership behavior that has a huge impact on outcomes and commitment. I am eager to read more. Thank you for bring this book to my attention.

Our company has undertaken an initiative to change the culture at work with a focus on Core Values. This effort requires active attention and engagement by all members of the team. It is vital that there is a foundation of trust – in management, in each other and in ourselves. We have a lending library with a few books on topics like this one that can hep as resources to guide us on our journey.

The power of culture is that it’s, “…implicit rather than explicit, emotional rather than rational.”

This is so true. There is a book by Roger Conners and Tom Smith called “Change the Culture Change the Game”. They talk about how leaders are often focused on results but the best results start with belief and as leaders we have to create experiences that cultivate that belief.

I enjoy and appreciate the insight of the posts I read on Leadership Freak. The topic of culture is important to all of us who work with people and process toward the same goals. When we think of culture as the personality of an organization, communication must be reinforced as the vital connection we all have in sustaining the culture. Culture should be what we all see, hear, and how we react to those around us. If we consider our feelings about those elements, we should be able to recognize if the culture needs to change. Everyone wants to feel comfortable at work and with those with whom we work, but those who truly want to pioneer change and see it through are the few.

For me, culture is who you are as an organization, it is you character, your identity !!! and as such it is based on how you define your self (as a social institution) in terms of your key values, beliefs, purpose and Visión. And all these can be seen in the patterns of behaviours across the company. Culture is WHY and HOW people behave when no one is watching.

Since we can’t touch Culture, everyone has to believe it and see it in others. Problems can arise when some leaders stray from the Culture and only speak it, not live it. Having enough pride and character to want others to see our Culture in me, drives me. Our team’s actions promote our beliefs and define our Culture both to internal and external partners

I am a year into my current position of head of an educational service agency – the culture of our organization has been a focus of mine. It was not “bad” when I came in the door, but there is room for growth. This book seems like an imperative as I look to build a culture of purpose. Thank you!

When wanting to change organizational culture, I would think it would be best to focus on a few critical behaviors. Your authentic informal leaders are key to this as well. You’ll need motivators, role models, master communicators, and those who lead change.

This is something I’ve been working on, having taken leadership in an organization that has some pretty bad cultures. I’m to the point where I’m seeing the effects of having wrong culture versus good culture but I’m not always sure how to best change it. For instance, when we had board meetings, it was normal for some people to show up an hour late and others to leave early leaving us with not a whole lot of useful time when everyone was there (and actually present). I simply addressed it at a meeting one time by getting everyone’s attention, simply stating what was happening and why, and stating the fact that no one enjoyed meetings like this, we had just gotten stuck in a rut and didn’t know how to get out. It was pretty simple, really. The next meeting everyone was on time! Unfortunately, some cultures aren’t as easy to pinpoint and/or remedy.

Sherwood Lingenfelter defines culture as “A conceptual design and definitions by which people order or structure their lives, interpret their experience, and evaluate the behaviors of others.” Your questions really help us understand the behavioral side of culture as we interpret our experience and evaluate behaviors of others *and* ourselves.

Great points! We have a problem in our organization of not wanting to hold anyone accountable for their work. A lot of mistakes are made but no one is willing to address those with the department or individual. Therefore we tend to repeat our mistakes. They also believe a positive culture is driven by giving away free snacks on Monday morning. That was their initiative to improve the culture.

One of the important traits I don’t see is the willingness to be vulnerable, especially with new ideas. Our company has a few trailblazers of new ideas, who need to be able to withstand indifference to their ideas, or outright criticism of their ideas. Innovation is not always embraced with enthusiasm. But, part of our culture is being on the front-line of incorporating new ideas, so these folks are critical. They need to be encouraged for their willingness to put themselves out there.

“Successful transformation requires enthusiasm and participation of authentic informal leadership.” This can be difficult to achieve because of the fear of change or the distrust that can grow out of an undesirable culture.

As someone who is working on growing the culture for our company – this is a great post. It is amazing how we all talk about “culture” for a company and expect it to magically occur w/o the total immersion of the leaders at the top. Thanks.

Publically recognizing employee achievements, including employees in the decision making proccess, practicing integrity (even when no one is watching), building a work enviroment that recognizes the power of divercity, listening to the concerns of others ( really listening), be crystal clear with mission and objectives, treating the janitor as you would the CEO, sharing accolades for sucsesd, and being humble.

Steve,
Perfect, don’t treat anyone differently as you the Boss…Bingo we have a winner!
Remember we were once low on the Totem pole, remember those feelings and share with others to build them into a Leader..

What a great and enlightening post! Organizational culture has great momentum and typically won’t change apart from a shock event or effective change management. Following the guidelines in “The “ABCs (attitudes, behavior, and culture) of IT,” we developed a culture transformation workshop for a global IT group. Focusing on attitudes and behaviors identified aspects of culture we needed to change to improve collaboration and business outcomes. Implementing that transformation required a change initiative that was all about ME — motivating and enabling at the individual, team, and structural levels. We made some progress, but were hindered by enthusiastic but intermittent executive level support. It takes a consistent, concerted, focused, and courageous effort to change culture — nothing less will succeed! Looking forward to reading about the critical few. All the best.

Key takeaway: not just ‘Will senior leadership adopt and role-model the behaviors?’, but to what extent do senior leaders adopt and role-model these behaviors? Does this transformed way of knowing and being drive talk and walk amongst senior leaders? How did senior leadership go about acquiring new lenses for which to see and experience their workplace environment, people, and culture?

I love your posts Dan. Although much of this information is set in a buisness setting I’ve been applying your tips with my own leadership style in the military setting and it has proven wonders in not only improving myself but my comrades and unit as a whole. Thank you for your work and keep it up. – Lead the way –

I think this is such an excellent template to begin the process and for starting critical conversations. I think all organizational change begins with an examination of the culture. Your blog is excellent – thank you!

Wow! That definition of culture is the best I’ve ever heard. And I love #3: Authentic INFORMAL Leaders. I would love to know what “informal” means in this context. Similarly, I would love to know what “formal” means in this context… and how did these writers arrive at their conclusion. I wonder if there’s a connection between “informal” and “influencer.” Wonderful post. Thank you!

I see and believe in our company’s core value and have been working hard to facilitate discussion as well as modeling those values and helping nurture a more positive culture. But it sure is slow progress. Any suggestions and insights are greatly appreciated.

Not my quote but very relevant: “Culture defeats strategy every time”. Much like the picture in the post (a huge tree) it grows slowly in a unique ecosystem and it is usually impractical to just uproot it and plant another one (especially if you need some shade before the next 12 years go by). But you can change it from within, ideally but not always with top-down support, by finding win-win situations that edge people towards choosing the “right” (note that it is only _your_ definition of “right”) behavior

Thank you for sharing. Culture is at the heart our of organization and I truly believe that the main driver of our company’s culture is the leadership. Would love a free copy of the book! Thank you for this post.

Company cultures are so interesting. From a goal setting point of view, you need to define your end state so you can plan and execture your way there.

My experience is that companies talk a lot about their “culture”, some even print it out for all to see.

In my eyes the big miss is that culture is made by just saying what you want it to be. Culture is really defined by how others interpret how you act. You can say the words “Trust”, “Safe”, “Open door policy”, etc. and think that you support those in your company culture, but if the people working with/for you don’t interpret your actions that way, the culture is not what you think it is.

Much like trust, it takes a while to build and an instant to tear it all apart, culture works the same.The same as a company “brand”. You can say all you want about your products and services, but in the end it’s the consumer that decides if doing business with you is worth the money/costs/hassles.

I see culture the same way, in the end, no matter what is said or done, the employees of a company decide if it worth the money/costs/hassles.

The three elements are practical. While there are many definitions of culture, I prefer Dr. Dan Denison’s: “The underlying values, beliefs and principles that serve as a foundation for an organization’s management system as well as the practices and behaviors that both exemplify and reinforce those basic principles.”

In our work with early childhood program administrators, this is a leadership topic we have administrators examine; how organizational climate and job satisfaction are closely related. I believe “#4. What drives decisions? Data, intuition, or experience?” is an important trait and should be considered when thinking about making changes in the organizational climate. Gathering data through an organizational climate survey of staff will help an administrator make more informed decisions toward improving organizational climate.

I enjoy your blog post, learn a great deal and especially value new resources that you highlight for your audience. I would love to receive a free copy; however, if I am not one of the lucky ones, I plan to put this on my wish list of leadership books to purchase! Thank you for your blog posts, I learn so much that I can use in our work!

Organizational culture (or cultures, because there is often more than one culture in an organization) is a tough nut to crack. Someone said, ‘culture eats strategy for lunch.’ I think serving as an example energizes organizational culture. Leaders have to demonstrate consistency in words and actions. Not being an example and living the culture of the organization by leaders can de-energize followers.

Organizational culture is defined as the underlying beliefs, assumptions, values and ways of interacting that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of an organization.

Organizational culture includes an organization’s expectations, experiences, philosophy, as well as the values that guide member behavior, and is expressed in member self-image, inner workings, interactions with the outside world, and future expectations. Culture is based on shared attitudes, beliefs, customs, and written and unwritten rules that have been developed over time and are considered valid (The Business Dictionary).

Cultures emerge, as opposed to being created. When the participants and beneficiaries of the culture recognize and accept the values for behaving a particular way, they tend to adopt the behaviors. Behaviors are contagious and produce either positive or negative results within the ownership of the culture. Undesirable behaviors become more commonplace when such behaviors are allowed to propagate. Cultures (people) are prone to establish greater values for desired and acceptable behavior that is visible and spontaneous among the leaders. Others will begin to feel safe, leading them to replicate the behaviors they value. Culture transformation will develop into a new normal, and the results will be repeatable overtime. When culture leaders behave the way they want and expect others to behave, amazingly good things begin to happen.

Culture is the foundation of everything in organizations. It has been proven to me throughout my work history. At times, culture can be quite elusive and one has to spend quite a bit of time trying to put your finger on the culture and all of its hidden currents. But without gaining a solid understanding of it, moving forward is next to impossible.

For those who may be on “Culture Change Teams,” may I suggest that, through consensus among the Team, you have one work session to identify two or three behaviors that you believe would add value to the culture. Then, without notification to others, leave the work session and begin to behave the way you believe others should behave. After 90-days, get the Team back together and evaluate your effectiveness.

Developing to where these behaviors become the implicit disposition of the company body can never stop, and the informal aspect is huge; and then guarding against the descent of complacency. This can not be done alone no one ever gets there, the learning never stops. At least that is my experience and opinion.

“Will senior leadership adopt and role-model the behaviors” is an excellent criterion for transformative behaviors. If leaders don’t verbally support and consistently demonstrate them, they will not become part of the culture that guides how work gets done.

Because lasting culture typically changes slowly it has to be an intentional effort everyday, and an everyday reminder or habit is a necessity as a leader. Working as a facilities manager at a church and private school a drive around campus when I arrive and leave for the day is that habit and reminder. It is the time where I reconnect the activities, task lists, and difficulties to the people I serve.

One of the things I’ve been charged with in our strategic plan is to analyze our present culture throughout our campus to see where we can make improvements and move forward. This article was helpful as I’m sure reading the book will be. Thanks Dan for continuing to help us become better formal and informal leaders.

I am a big proponent of informal leadership that builds and refines culture. “Instigation” is what I prefer to call it. 😀 Effective instigation is the repetition of barely noticeable changes to ideals that slowly become the fabric. Formalization is more like a patch that already has a predefined structure, shape, and size that can never fully integrate with the original fabric. Wash the fabric or give a good tug and the effectiveness of a patch will quickly be seen. To change a culture you must intentionally add or replace thread by thread to become a part of the weave.

In the ultimate analysis, what energizes a company culture is an overarching vision of a future which addresses the concerns of stakeholders and which leads to the latter taking actions in the present which align into making the future come true. This of course is easier said than done.

In my personal experience I have found that what impacts such an alignment most is an organisational culture allowing for open and frank conversations and exchanges. Conversations which would allow for apprehensions, frustrations and regrets to be tabled. Once this is allowed, a space opens up for a new future to be created and worked upon.

In my OD culture/values work with organizations, making the intangible tangible can be transformative – with the right leadership. Asking the right questions is critical to articulate what matters (values)…and to describe the behaviors that drive what matters. Thanks for this informative review of Katzenbach’s new book!

Thanks for the insightful article and discussion on changing organizational culture. Most folks do not want to change and tend to feed on negative news. The challenge is to turn it into a positive: the half full vs. half empty perspective. Try to use it as an opportunity to explain why the changes benefit them personally and the organization and population/customers that they serve.

Sometimes recognizing a company/groups culture is easy, other times it’s evolving and changing it difficult to pinpoint. Most helpful to me was the list of questions to help identify the critical few behaviours

Organizational change is so difficult on many levels. Whether it is “the way it has always been” or “I know this way is better” without even looking at other options, pursuing changes from the top down for buy in is absolutely necessary, however starting the change from bottom up to get buy in from those that actually do the work is key for success. However, 100% communication / collaboration from all sides is what is needed.

In my experience culture really matters regarding engagement and creates better financial results and also lower turn over. The 8 questions at the end of Dan’s post are key and have to be asked and discussed by leadership and all involved in any culture change project. You cannot microwave culture, you have to work at it and continue to support the initiative, be clear about your behaviors and reviewing resulting in continuous cadence to stay successful.

“Do people tend to be more interested in history or the future?” Best question I have seen in a while. All too often the excuse is this is who we are, or this is what we do, or look how far we’ve come. Get away from this is how we do it and therefore always shall be the way we do it. and stop focusing on how far we’ve come and look at where we can still go. Stop trying to fix the broken processes by adding a patch. Don’t be tied to the past, be willing to tear it down and build what you need, not what you can get from what you have.

Thank you as always for engaging posts. I am currently working on an executive task force examining our culture and making cultural changes, have taken may courses on this and would love to add this book to our research and analysis, as our recommendations are due in a few months, thanks!!

“Culture is the self-sustaining patterns of behaving, feeling, thinking, and believing that determine how things get done in an organization.” Great definition! I’ve always struggled explaining what “culture” is but this definition pretty much sums it up.

Dear Dan,
I think this is the beginning of a rewards-based response culture…you’ve dangled the possibility of a FREE book in front of us. Is this a demonstration waiting to unfold? Are you training us to be more responsive based on a potential prize? Count me in :)!!!

“Transformation begins from your current position – your traits.”
Reflection first…love these questions! I am going to share this with my principal for our admin team to answer individually and as a team. I think it could be a powerful conversation that leads to us working collaboratively to move our campus forward.

The power of culture is that it’s, “…implicit rather than explicit, emotional rather than rational.” (The Critical Few)

I LOVE this and the organization where I work needs help. We are struggling. I was thinking this week that I need to seek help with defining and developing our culture here. Since I am not considered part of the leadership team, I am wondering how I can leverage my influence to effect change from the bottom up. I would love a copy of this book!

Are you more self-sufficient or collaborative? I am collaborative when others have the skill set to conduct tasks that are needed. Otherwise I am self sufficient. I know you are going to say well Roger you should help make those who don’ have those skills set get better. I’ve tried, there are limitations based on timing (something is needed quickly), passion by those who don’t have the skill sets and even interest in building those skill sets. Some are just happy where they are and are not interested in building the skill sets. Its frustrating because i was not brought up that way and this is what makes my frustration most days.

This really hits home (rather office) for me. For the last 10 years we have been under a new manager that was given the opportunity to pick up the pieces from failed management of the previous 5 years. The new manager was very successful in turning the business around as well as creating great culture within. He put new managers under him in place to help maintain this. As time went on, the upper manager began looking to his future. Unbeknownst to him, his lower management group was slowly destroying the culture that was created. While it is possible for one person to greatly impact the culture of a business, he has to rely on a team to continue this. Whether he did not select the right people for the job, or his views on “what is next on the ladder” caused this is debatable, but nonetheless, the culture has changed. A small group of us have taken on the task of bringing this back, but some recent broad based corporate ideas have derailed this.
We are going to continue to push towards the success of our culture, and these questions are what we need to be asking to help drive that.
Thank you for your great posts Dan, you have been so helpful on the long and windy path of my career!

Very insightful! I love your definition of organizational culture. This is a topic about which I’m very interested. I have the opportunity to cooloborate on a team to open a new high school in August of 2020. I would love a copy to review and suggest as a book study for our leadership team. Your book will generate and guide deep, productive, and insightful discussion and ideas for creating a vision and identity for our school.

I’m trying to live my best life and set the example I want others to follow. I think that’s the best way I can make positive changes to the company culture. Any tips along the way would be most appreciated!!

It’s very interesting to see culture broken down like this… My office is currently struggling with culture (has been the norm to be very negative and complain-y about tasks as well as a “worker vs supervisor” attitude instead of a team for years) so I would definitely love to learn better ways of how to make change.

Strategy is the road map for an organization, needed to clearly identify where it is going. Culture is the the way the organization must behave in order to implement the strategy in the most effective way possible. The two, strategy and culture need to be married, and as “culture eats strategy for breakfast”, culture is essential for achieving a strategic imperative.

Being new to the C-Suite, focusing on the “Critical Few” will be key to success in the short and long term. Winning a copy would be great, but i think I’ll be ordering one from Amazon in the near future.